Wednesday, August 30, 2006

east county in review

Purple Line UPDATE: Karen Roper said "I'm gonna take every candidate and every newspaper and show 'em this is where their money's goin'." It looks like the Gazette finally bit and took the tour. They even gave the article a headline referencing Johnny Cash. Real slick . . .

On the ICC: Two years after some sketchy tree-clearing during construction of the Burtonsville Bypass, last month a drilling crew for the ICC hit a water line, sending sediment into the Paint Branch. Does the state know how to build an "environmentally-sensitive" highway without hurting the environment?

FINALLY: The D.C. area gets a few superlatives today. U.S. Census surveys state that we have the second-worst congestion in the nation, second only to New York City. On the bright side, however, we're also the second-wealthiest region in the country, second only to San Jose. And Loudoun County, where planners are considering a development south of Dulles Airport the size of Columbia, has become the wealthiest county in the nation. Fairfax, Howard and Montgomery are "not far behind," says the Post, which does little to alleviate my disappointment with all the incredibly over-priced estate homes going up down the street from my former high school.

RE: The original proposal to build the purple line as a mostly underground Subway with connections through Langley Park(travels under MD 193, MD 650, and US 29) to White Oak, Forrest Glen, Downtown Silver Spring, Downtown Bethesda, White Flint/North Bethesda, and Montgomery Mall.